Discussion on the discovery of: Arm2.Sector5.Star94456.-Discovery:Tertiary life bearing world-

Master Privus: Gentelmen, ladies *pause* we have made a life changing discovery.

Master Clipt: Care to elaborate ser, or did you call us for a cliffhanger?

Master Privus: Certainly, certainly. Well, first things first, we have discovered a new life bearing world. This brings the total count to...

Madam Ilmya: Five hundred and thirty eight now, ser.

Master Privus: Thank you, ma'am. Yes. Quite a number. And, an exciting world too, I must say. Very diverse, by far the most diverse we've ever seen. Early estimates put distinct species somewhere in the billions, potentially, though most of these count minor variances. This estimate of course may be very high. There are many similar organisms, and various reproductive means, it makes distinction... foggy, you might say.

Master Poloto: An absurd estimate, I should think. That would be diversity on orders of magnitudes greater than Zetronym, the previous record holder.

Master Clipt: If Master Zetronym were here today he might take offense at such a blatant over-estimate, Privus. It simply insults the greatness of his discovery.

Master Privus: Well sers and madams, if you think that is absurd you may very well balk at the most weighing of our finds.

Master Numin: Again, Privus, leaving us waiting.

Master Privus: It is a harsh world, this. Bitter, brutal. The most developed of its species, a high ranking sentient lifeform, boasts one of the planets longest average lifespans, a mind-boggling one point two-three cycles!

Madam Ilmya: Sentient? With those sort of pitiful span of existence? Poor creatures. Must be miserable.

Master Privus: Indeed. It seems to exacerbate their planets already harsh nature. Their two dominant modes of industry are extending their own lifespans, and developing weapons to steal resources from others to further the former. It has, however, led to some intriguing sophistry on the part of the species as a whole. I have near half of my allocated computations for the months churning out translations. Fascinating, I really mean it.

Master Poloto: I did not quite find myself balking at that, Privus, though it is perhaps unfortunate.

Master Privus: Ah, thank you, I have digressed. What I meant to tell you was the exact result of the planets bitter nature. We have in fact, we believe, discovered, and entirely new method of developing lifeforms. As we all learned in standard, all life reaches sentience by some means or another of self-enhancement. Well, standard will have to adjust their teachings. This new planet has come about it by an entirely different means. The dominants there have a term for it. They even believe it the "natural" form of life. They call it, "natural-selection."